OAE Tesol 121 Study Guide

A collection of vocabulary terms and concepts related to TESOL and language acquisition.

Plyler v. Doe

A landmark decision holding that states cannot constitutionally deny students a free education based on immigration status.

Gomez v. Illinois State Board of Education (1987)

A case under the Equal Educational Opportunities Act to ensure that the needs of limited-English-proficient children are met.

Law v. Nichols

A case that established a ban on educational discrimination because of national origin.

Castaneda v. Pickard

Delineated a three-pronged standard for determining whether limited English proficient students have equal access to school district programs.

Linguistic Accessibility

The concept of making learning content accessible to English Language Learners, particularly in testing situations.

Direct Method

An approach that refrains from using the learners' native language and focuses solely on the target language.

Suggestopedia

An instructional method that uses positive suggestions and a calming atmosphere to enhance learning.

Silent Way

An instructional approach where students work cooperatively and independently, and the syllabus is based on learners' communicative needs.

Cohesion

An effort to bridge the gap between 'classroom English' and 'real-life English'.

Coherence

An attribute of writing that indicates a logical and well-organized flow, making it easy to understand.

Discourse Markers

Words or phrases used to manage the flow of conversation without adding significant meaning.

Negotiation of Meaning

The process where meaning must be negotiated in teacher-student interactions for effective learning.

Schwa

The unstressed vowel sound found in unaccented syllables, represented by 'Uh' in a word like 'about'.

Reduced Vowels

Vowels in unstressed syllables due to reduced airflow in multi-syllabic words.

Digraphs

Two letters that together produce one sound, like 'ch' and 'ph'.

Lexical

Pertaining to the vocabulary or words of a language.

Natural Approach

An instructional approach with three stages: Comprehension, Early Production, and Speech Emergence.

Over Generalization

The erroneous application of a language rule to exceptions, such as 'run' becoming 'runned'.

Fossilization

The persistence of language errors in a second language that cannot be corrected despite high proficiency.

Critical Period Hypothesis

The time frame during which language acquisition is most effective; after this period, native-like pronunciation is difficult to achieve.

Cognates

Words that share a common origin and have similar meanings across languages.

Non-cognates

Words that appear similar in two languages but have different meanings.

Allophones

Variants of a phoneme that do not change the meaning of a word.

Subtractive Bilingualism

A process where a second language is learned while the ability to use the first language diminishes.

Pragmatic Transfer

The influence of first language sociocultural competencies on second language speech.

Noticing Hypothesis

The theory that learners must recognize differences between their interlanguage and target language norms.

Visual Learner

A learner who acquires knowledge through visual aids and demonstrations.

Silent Period

A phase of language learning where students can listen and observe but are not yet speaking regularly.

Inflectional Endings

Suffixes that can be added to a word without changing its grammatical category.

Skinner's Theory

The belief that language acquisition occurs through conditioning principles such as reinforcement.

Speech Act

An utterance that serves a function in communication, such as promising or apologizing.

Content Based Approach

An instructional methodology that emphasizes subject matter as a medium for teaching a second language.

Communicative Competence

The ability to use language appropriately in various social contexts.

Krashen's Input Hypothesis

The theory that language acquisition occurs when learners understand language input that is slightly above their current proficiency.

Audio Lingual Method

An approach focusing on the correct production of language forms, often prioritizing form over meaning.

Late-Exit Bilingual Education

A program where English Language Learners receive instruction in their native language and in English for several years.

Pragmatics

The study of how words are used in real-world contexts.

Cognitive and Language Learning Approach (CALLA)

A method designed to provide comprehensible language instruction integrated with content area instruction.

Preproduction Stage

The initial phase of language learning marked by limited understanding and speaking ability, often referred to as the Silent Period.

Two-Way Immersion Bilingual Education

An educational model that combines students from two language groups for instruction in both languages.

Direct Object

The word that identifies what or who receives the action of a transitive verb.

Avoidance

A learning strategy where students avoid discussing topics for which they lack the necessary vocabulary.

Positive Language Transfer

The situation where similarities between the first language (L1) and the second language (L2) assist in learning L2.

Top-Down Approach

A learning method that emphasizes understanding meaning over reading each word correctly.

Code Switching

The practice of alternating between two languages within a conversation.

Learning Modalities

Various ways in which individuals learn, including visual, auditory, and kinesthetic methods.

Bilingual Enrichment Programs

Educational programs designed for native English speakers to learn a second language through content instruction.

Transitional Bilingual Education

An approach where fluency in the second language is acquired after establishing fluency in the native language.